CASE-1Last spring I was called to see and prescribe for a valuable six-year old stallion. The owner said he couldn’t make him take on flesh. He was indeed a sorry looking object; hair standing and dead-looking; bones very prominent; membranes of the eyes and mouth of a yellowish color; skin covered with cruptions; so weak that when they attempted to move him he uearly fell. Some days he would eat his feed, and others only part of it. They had worn a shield on him during the last season, but had never seen him masturbate. The attendant said he had noticed a white, gummy substance on the hair inside of the hind legs. I examined the sheath and found some moisture. I considered I had found evidence sufficient to diagnose his condition due to masturbation. I ordered nutritious food, daily exercise, and grooming; prescribed Sulphur ᶿ and Saw Palmetto ᶿ , 20 gtts, three times a day alternately. I did not see him again for three months. I was agreeably surprised to see the improvement; he was fat, sleek, and full of life. The owner said “When you told me to give this horse only twenty-drop doses of medicine, I thought I might as well give just so much water, and I consider it almost a miracle; he could have been bought for fifty dollars, but now it would take six thousand.” I ordered medicine discontinued, and pronounced him will.
CASE-2 Was called to a neighboring town by rail last winter to see a mare which was suffering from severe labor pains; the owner said she had been suffering for twenty-four hours, and that she was not due to foal for three months yet. The vulva was swollen and of a purplish color. The pains returned about every five minutes. I administered a one-drachm dose Viburnum prunifolium ᶿ , and in a half hour repeated the dose; the pains ceased entirely in an hour, and this was all the treatment she had. She had no further trouble, and in proper time she foaled a live colt.
CASE -3 Last October I was called to see a fine Jersey cow. I found her lying on a hillside and not able to get up. Head turned to the side, muzzle resting on the ground. Upon lifting the head the jaw dropped and hung without power to close. Mouth cold, eyes glassy and staring. Muzzle dry, rumination had cease. No action from bowels or bladder. She had calved the previous day without any assistance. Diagnosis: parturient apoplexy. Prognosis, reserved. Treatment: withdrew urine by catheter, prescribed Aconite nap. And Belladonna ᶿ , ten drops every two hours alternate, and gave instructions to the attendant to not allow her to lay on her side. I have found from past experience that they grow worse rapidly when permitted to do so. I saw her again in the evening, and found her lying in a natural position. Head up, but barely power to hold it in that position. The mouth was closed, pupils dilated, eyes not so glassy, no action from bowels or bladder. Drew urine with catheter, and gave an enema, of warm water and soap. Ejected some manure with the enema, which was dry and black. Gave Pilocarpine hydrochlorate, two grains hypodermically and left to be administered every alternate three hours, Nux vomica 3x and Belladonna 3x, dose fifteen drops. Next morning when I called her head up; eyes had regained their normal appearance. Bowels moving; passages watery and smelling bad. A glairous discharge from the vulva. Prescribed Pulsatilla 3x, Arsenicum alb. 6x, every alternate three hours, dose fifteen drops. Called again in the evening. Patient standing and ruminating; discharges from bowels thicker and do not smell so bad; no discharge from vulva. Continued Arsenicum alb. 6x alone and three times a day. Two days later patient entirely recovered. Discontunued medicine. This was the first case of recovery from parturient apoplexy in this neighbourhood, they having all died, being treated Allopathically. C.E. BROWN, V.S.
